Jan Harder

Jan Harder
Ottawa City Councillor
In office
January 1, 2001  present
Preceded by City amalgamated
Constituency Bell-South Nepean Ward (2001-2006); Barrhaven Ward (2006-present)
Nepean City Councillor
In office
January 1, 1998  January 1, 2001
Preceded by Doug Collins
Succeeded by City amalgamated
Constituency Barrhaven Ward
Personal details
Born 1951
Ottawa

Jan Harder (born 1951 in Ottawa) is an Ottawa City Councillor representing the ward of Barrhaven. She is the appointed chair of the Ottawa Public Library board, which sets policy and has the ultimate say in decisions affecting the library system.

Born in Ottawa, she spent her youth in a number of different Ontario cities. Trained as a radiological technician, she eventually became an executive in the grocery business.

She first entered politics in 1997 when she was elected to Nepean city council. With the creation of the new amalgamated city of Ottawa in 2000, Harder ran against regional councillor Molly McGoldrick-Larsen. While the race was expected to be close, Harder ended up winning by several thousand votes.

She was reelected in the 2003 Ottawa election, by defeating newcomer John R. Palmer.

One of her first efforts on city council was the successful campaign to replace the new coat of arms with that of the old city of Ottawa. She also led a campaign to have filters installed on computers in the public libraries that would keep users from accessing pornography.

In the November 2006 municipal elections, Harder retained her position as councillor with 75% of the vote in Barrhaven Ward.

Harder was criticized for the appearance of a conflict of interest for having accepted a free corporate box seat at the 2007 Stanley Cup NHL hockey playoff game (Senators v.s. Anaheim Ducks) at Scotiabank Place from Waste Management Services—a company that the City does business with.[1] She was accused of conflict of interest again in 2008 for allegedly endorsing a waste management company, Plasco, and accepting money in the form of a paid trip[2]

Harder is heavily active in Conservative politics and in the past mused about running federally in her riding. Her daughter, Elena ran for the vacant Orléans Ward seat in a by-election in January 2006, but was unsuccessful.

References

  1. Puddicombe, Derek (2010-06-11). "City to review ethics and gifts policy". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
  2. "Ottawa officials under fire for Plasco-funded B.C. trip". CBC News. 2008-09-29. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
Preceded by
None, ward amalgamated into Ottawa in 2000
City councillors from Bell-South Nepean Ward
2000-2006
Succeeded by
Ward abolished
Preceded by
Ward created
City councillors from Barrhaven Ward
2006-present
Succeeded by
Incumbent
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